The Fourteenth-Century Italian Motet

AbstractThe retrospective anthologies of Italian trecento repertory are dominated by the madrigal, ballata and caccia. Due to its absence from these manuscripts, the Italian motet had not been recognised as a distinctive genre until this essay (originally given at a conference in 1984 and here heavily revised since its delayed 1992 publication) reinstated its tradition on the basis of often fragmentary sources. That tradition is traced here, starting with Marchetto’s motet Ave regina celorum/Mater innocencie. Twenty-nine motets are listed with their characteristics, culminating in the motets of Ciconia, mostly composed in Padua c. 1400–1411, and for which earlier motets provide precedents and context. Several of the texts embed names of dedicatees or composers. The many similarly formed compositions in the ensuing generation are not addressed here, except that a more recently discovered (later) motet O Antoni is included.